National Counterterrorism Director Resigns in Protest of Trump
National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent abruptly resigned Tuesday in protest of President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, now in its third week, leveling unproven accusations that Israel has repeatedly drawn the United States into conflicts.
“I cannot, in good conscience, support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran did not pose an imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent said in his resignation letter to Trump.
The former Green Beret criticized Israel in harsh and sometimes feverish terms, bizarrely accusing the country of also being responsible for the United States’ involvement in the 2003 Iraq war and for “manufacturing” the Syrian Civil War. Notably, Kent did not mention Trump’s own actions that made war more likely, from ordering a weeks-long military buildup to repeatedly undermining American diplomacy with Iran.
Kent, a political appointee who was confirmed in a 52-44 vote last summer, was found to have connections to right-wing extremists during a previous congressional campaign. He reportedly once called Adolf Hitler a “complicated historical figure” who “many people misunderstand.”
As director of the NCC, he worked under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a longtime critic of overseas military entanglements who has nonetheless remained silent on Trump’s decision to start another war in the Middle East.
Trump has struggled to explain why he agreed to attack Iran when he did, citing vague threats the nation posed to American interests, as Americans begin to see higher costs at home. So far, thirteen U.S. service members have been killed and around 200 wounded in the conflict.
Kent said in his letter that he supported “the values and foreign policies” that Trump championed in his last three presidential campaigns. Trump even called himself the “President of Peace” in the last election cycle.
Kent believes, however, that “senior Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a disinformation campaign that completely undermined” Trump’s platform and “sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.”
He continued, delving further into the alleged conspiracy: “This echo chamber was used to deceive them into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that if they attacked now, there was a clear path to quick victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to drag us into the disastrous Iraq War that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women.”
After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.
I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran did not pose an imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr
– Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026
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The administration’s latest escalation is driving the global view of the United States as a rogue actor, fueling instability, acting illogically and illegally, and putting innocent lives at risk.
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The United States has”There are no stupid rules of engagement,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday.
“},{“edition ID”:”us”,”holder”:”Israel’s dangerous war against Iran is escalating, with Donald Trump’s tacit blessing”,”Default image”:{“guy”:”Hector”,”URL”:”https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/684e1b2f190000f063880e33.jpeg”,”queryParams”:{},”broad”:8640,”height”:5760,”credit”:”via News”,”operations”:””},”URL”:”https://www.News themezone.com/entry/trump-iran-israel-war_n_684e19d5e4b0028eac532cf5″,”ten”:”The United States has a unique power to impose restraint, but with the offensive in its third day and the death toll rising, there are few signs that Trump will exert his influence.”}],”Login URL”:”https://login.News themezone.com/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.News themezone.com%2Fentry%2Fnational-counterterrorism-director-resigns-in-protest-of-trumps-iran-war_n_69b95e7de4b09852c2829c98%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1″,”cet unit”:”body_buzz”,”enableIncontentPlayer”:FAKE,”bodyAds”:[[“
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After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.
I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran did not pose an imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr
– Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026
“You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slide further into decline and chaos,” Kent told Trump. “You hold the cards.”
Trump has repeatedly fueled tensions with Iran despite efforts by others, including some of his own advisers, to avoid escalations.
In his first presidency, he unilaterally withdrew the United States from an international agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program, negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency, and ordered the assassination of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, a move Kent praised in his letter.
Both decisions soured Tehran’s view of Washington in general, and of Trump in particular, hampering Trump’s current presidency effort to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran. Trump’s march toward war was heavily influenced by his decision to entrust such diplomacy to non-experts (specifically two fellow real estate entrepreneurs, his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kusher) and by the sense he has created throughout the administration that dissenting opinions are undesirable or grounds for retaliation.
Kent, a veteran with 11 combat deployments under his belt, lost his wife, Shannon, in 2019 when or was hit by a suicide bomber in Syria while working in Navy intelligence. He had to raise the couple’s two children.
He referenced both facts in his letter, saying he “cannot support sending the next generation to fight and die in a war that neither benefits the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.”
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump administration and its allies responded forcefully to his accusations, particularly to the idea that Iran did not pose an imminent threat.
“I always thought he was a good guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security,” the president told reporters during a meeting in the Oval Office with Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on X that “the absurd accusation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, including foreign countries, is both insulting and ridiculous.”
“President Trump has been remarkably consistent and has said for DECADES that Iran will NEVER be able to possess a nuclear weapon,” he added, although experts have said Iran was no closer to obtaining such a weapon. Last June, Trump ordered a massive bombing operation to damage Iranian nuclear facilities.
Taylor Budowich, Trump’s former White House deputy chief of staff, called Kent “a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks while rarely (never?) producing any real work.”
“This is not a principled resignation; I just wanted to make a splash before I was fired. What a loser,” Budowich said on X.
“I don’t know where Joe Kent gets his information,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. Johnson added that he attended national security meetings with other lawmakers from the Group of Eight (top Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress) and that the group was shown evidence of an imminent threat.
But Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who was also at the meetings, said that was not the case.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also agreed with Kent’s central point, writing of X: “Kent and I don’t agree on much, but he’s right” about the level of threat posed by Iran.
Elsewhere, reaction to Kent was mixed. Some cautioned against putting too much weight on what Kent said because of his controversial past and the way his letter blames Israel.
Amy Spitalnick, director of the progressive Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called Kent “an extremist with deep ties to Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers who should never have played this role in the first place (sadly one of many in this administration).”
“You can vehemently criticize the Israeli government and oppose the war without engaging in dangerous conspiracy tropes. Broadening it further normalizes it,” he said.
Akbar Shahid Ahmed contributed reporting.